With a focus on bringing more visibility to local artisans and makers from a global city or region at the time, My Made in Box aims to cherish local production and preserve the heritage of independent designers and makers all around the world.
By Hanna-Amanda Pant
Read More
B·COME Studio, 2016.
Tell us about the team...
Most importantly, behind B·COME there is a team formed by individuals who are eager and committed to reach the entire world. B·COME is built upon a passionate team formed by multidisciplinary individuals who complement one another.
What was the catalyst that made you start B COME Studio?
As there couldn’t be another way, B·COME was born after the experience and the aim to become part of the change that the fashion industry is currently experimenting.
Alba Garcia, co-founder of B·COME, worked inside the textile industry for seven years. During this time she discovered the real system and impact of the fashion circle; which is mainly composed by processes that are increasingly standardised and don’t allow to take out the potential and the resources from others, especially from the providers. As a designer, one doesn’t take the time to discover the real value of each manufacturer, and the rhythm of the work doesn’t allow to explore it in depth.
At this moment Alba Garcia and her partner Anna Cañadell (co-founder) of B·COME, who has a significant relationship with entrepreneurship business, decided to invest on their first trip to India. As an opportunity to meet possible clients, discover their potential and understand their needs. From this moment on, the project has been evolving and adapting to each necessity.
What is your personal relationship with sustainability (Anna & Alba)?
For B·COME there is no doubt that, sustainable fashion is the future. It is not a passing fad nor a way to ‘greenwash’ clean the name of a brand.
Sustainable fashion at the moment has become a huge trend, and there is a big challenge for the next generations to value the importance to buy ethical/conscious and to start using quality products. It is important to understand that small changes can reduce the environmental impact and the social problem of mass production. At the end, everything is up to the decisions we make for ourselves.
Tell us about how you work with other brands to build relationships between suppliers, artisans and brands...
As a multitasking consultancy/agency specialised in sustainable fashion, we mainly advise companies from large corporations to providers who want to incorporate sustainable fashion and processes that are completely transparent within their production system.
We are the top of the triangle that unifies sustainable providers and European brands.
B·COME offers brands services including design and consultancy about quality and alternative techniques.
The main objective is to offer collections that not simply meet the normal standards required for a certain brand, instead we want to offer the most sustainable option. Always going a step ahead and by the hand of our provider.
B·COME Studio, 2016.
Tell us about your manifesto...
RADICAL TRANSPARENCY:
B·COME believes in people. Together we are and we sum up. Our work consists on facilitating the communication between the retailer (brand) and the provider, throughout transparency and trust, with the final purpose of optimising their collaborations.
GREEN AND CLEAN:
Building a sustainable fashion business is about passion and seeing beyond present. B.COME believes that green and clean fashion is the future. Product quality and design is equally important as how sustainability it has been made. We support organisations who believe in ethical fashion and integrity, our aim is to endeavour for ALL of us to be a protagonist of change.
STAY CURIOUS:
Travel is what we do. To discover genuineness is our favourite.
B·COME Studio, 2016.
Tell us about some of your recent projects and how B COME helped with the project...
At the moment we are working on several projects, we work with different kind of providers — from small artisans specialised in embroidery by hand (hand craftsmanship) with vertical providers as PRATIBHA (INDIA), who build organic cotton that produce large quantities of cotton, which allow them to work with brands, such as Patagonia, Inditex and C&A.
We adore to travel and we try to take advantage of our trips to get to know new products and providers. At the moment we fall in love with them, we do whatever is in our hands to introduce them into the European market.
Hailing from Iceland, Milla Snorrason mixes unique woollen pieces with a touch of comfort. By creating sustainable fashion for a strong individual, for Milla Snorrason, quality and longevity are the key. We were so inspired by the Scandinavian simplicity and femininity of the Reykjavík-based label that we asked the head designer Hilda Gunnarsdóttir about her design process and her passion for environmental kindness.
Words: Johanna Raudsepp
Milla Snorrason Campaign 2016.
At Savant, we believe in sustainable fashion and the complete traceability of production. Fast fashion is a craze, but it could be slowed down. What is your take on this?
The mass production of garments is a big problem nowadays. I always think our biggest restriction as regular consumers is our purse, but this needs to be perceived as power. Don't buy fast fashion products, as simple as that. Instead, do your research and try to buy from a company that cares about the conditions in the factories it does business with. It’s always going to be more expensive, but it was also never actually supposed to be cheap, [because it is fair and ethical]. I try to apply this philosophy to my production as well.
Milla Snorrason Campaign 2016: Sóley Sigurþórs by Rut Sigurðardóttir / Stylist: Anna Clausen / Hair and make-up: Fríða María Harðardóttir.
We love that you like using sustainable materials and wool. Where do you source your fabrics from? What is your favourite material to work with and why?
I love working with Icelandic wool the most, because it is a local product and I can easily visit its producers, which I always do. This inspired me to even start my range of woollen sweaters. I can see and judge with my own eyes, how the sheep are treated and also how the knitting factory's workers are treated. Icelandic sheep get to run around wild all summer, but in the winter it gets too cold, so they’re kept inside. However, I haven't yet reached that goal of using only sustainable materials. Milla Snorrason is still a very small company and, more often than not, sustainable fabrics have too high minimum orders for us. But I am doing a lot of research and taking one step at a time towards more emphasis on sustainability.
Milla Snorrason Campaign 2016.
In Iceland, it’s difficult not to be inspired by the magical nature, the breathtaking scenery. Where do you draw your inspiration from when creating a collection for Milla Snorrason? Who is the woman you design for?
For every collection, I take a trip to explore more of Iceland. My favourite pastime is hiking. I take loads of photos and I mostly use these photos to create my prints. Iceland's nature is definitely what inspires me the most, but I also look at so many other things. Our surrounding visual culture inspires me a lot — I go to galleries, watch movies, I surf on the web and I take so many photos and collect them from everywhere. I am constantly researching my next collection. This spring I also went to Mexico and Cuba, which will definitely have its impact in a future collection.
I design first and foremost for myself, but also for my friends, my mother, her friends and any woman in the street who I think is inspiring, and I always wonder what I'd like to see her wear…
We all have people we admire, be it for their kindness, sense of style, or their lifestyle. Who do you look up to as a designer?
She's not really related to design directly, but the first woman that comes to mind is Jane Goodall. I think her work with animals is so beautiful and I am always inspired by people who treat animals with the same kindness as they do people. She is also a big advocate for environmental issues, which is something I take to heart, when deciding where and how to produce my clothes. Visually, I think female artists inspire me the most. They often don't really think about fashion in a traditional way and can have a fresh and interesting take on it.
Finally, let’s look through a crystal ball. What does the future hold for Milla Snorrason?
I will show my next collection in early 2017. It will be based on a four-day trip I took with four of my girlfriends to Iceland's highlands in August. It's going to be called Uxatindar [peak in South Iceland] and it's looking wonderful in my head! Past that I just let things flow naturally. My crystal ball doesn't seem to be working that well yet.
